"Urinate on it!" | A figurative statement indicating disregard/worthlessness
8 October 2023 • 5.4K views
Ash-Sha’bi raḥimahullāh stated:
ما حدثوك عن أصحاب رسول الله ﷺ فخذ به، وما قالوا برأيهم فبل عليه.
“Whatever they narrate to you from the Companions of the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ then adhere to it, and whatever they say based on their own opinion then urinate on it.”
[Reported by ’Abdurrazzāq in his Muṣannaf (11/256), Al-Khaṭīb in 'Sharaf Aṣ-ḥāb Al-ḥadīth' (74), and Al-Bayhaqi in Al-Madkhal (814)]
Ibn Sa’d transmitted this Athar authentically in Aṭ-Ṭabaqāt (6/251) with the following wording:
(ما قالوا لك برأيهم فبل عليه وما حدثوك عن أصحاب محمد ﷺ فخذ به).
Similarly, Ibnul Qayyim raḥimahullāh cites this Athar in A’lām Al-Muwaqq’īn (1/73):
قال صالح بن مسلم: سألت الشعبي عن مسألة من النكاح، فقال إن أخبرتك برأيي فبل عليه.
“Ṣāliḥ ibn Muslim said: I asked Ash-Sha’bi about an issue regarding marriage and he said: “If I tell you [something] based on my own opinion then urinate on it.”
Ibnul Qayyim commented:
فهذا قول الشعبي في رأيه وهو من كبار التابعين وقد لقي مائة وعشرين من الصحابة وأخذ عن جمهورهم.
“So this is the statement of Ash-Sha’bi regarding his own opinion, while he is from the senior Tābi’īn who met one hundred and twenty Companions and took from most of them...”
Here is another Imām making a similar statement:
Sheikh Muqbil raḥimahullāh said (Qam’ Al-Mu’ānid 356):
”اتركوا هذه الحزبية وبولوا عليها، فإنها شتتت شمل المسلمين وأعتقد أنها مخططة من قبل أمريكا و من قبل أعداء الإسلام.“
“Leave off this Ḥizbiyyah and urinate on it; for it has divided the Muslims, and I believe it was coined by America and the enemies of Islām.”
Finally, we ask those who slander Sheikh Yahya for this:
● What do you say concerning the statement of the Prophet ﷺ:
((من تعزى بعزاء الجاهلية عضوه بهني أبيه ولا تكنوا))
“Whoever attributes himself (in lineage) with an attribution of Jāhiliyyah, then tell him to bite his father's male organ and do not speak figuratively (i.e. be explicit).” [Adabul Mufrad 963]
● What do you say concerning Abū Bakr رضي الله عنه's statement to ’Urwah in the presence of Allāh's Messenger ﷺ:
(امْصُصْ بَظْرَ اللاَّتِ)
“Suck the clitoris of Al-Lāt.” [Bukhāri 2732]
Ibn Ḥajar explained [Al-Fat-h]:
“It was the custom of the Arabs to curse with such [phrase] but using “mother” instead (i.e. suck your mother's...), so Abū Bakr wanted to exaggerate in cursing ’Urwah by mentioning his diety (Lāt) rather than his mother, and he was motivated to do that because he was enraged by ’Urwah accusing the Muslims of fleeing [and abandoning the Prophet ﷺ]. And in this is permissibility of uttering reprehensible words with the intention of rebuking those who are deserving of that. Ibn An-Numayr said about Abū Bakr’s statement: It was to degrade the enemy, repudiate them, and exaggerate the fact that their claim of Al-Lāt being the daughter of Allāh - Exalted is He above what they say - implies that she has a female organ.”
Similarly, Ibnul Qayyim raḥimahullāh said [in Zād Al-Ma’ād]:
وفي قول الصديق لعروة (امصص بظر اللات) دليل على جواز التصريح باسم العورة إذا كان فيه مصلحة تقتضيها تلك الحال.
“Abū Bakr's statement to ’Urwah (suck the clitoris of Al-Lāt) is evidence for the permissibility of stating the name of private parts explicity if the situation dictates that.”
● What do you say concerning the statement of Sheikhul Islām ibn Taymiyyah raḥimahullāh:
(المعتزلة في الصفات مخانيث الجهمية)
“The Mu’tazilah as it relates to the Attributes of Allāh are the effeminate versions of the Jahmiyyah (i.e. Cowards).”
And there are many more examples of such statements from the Salaf in showing severity towards the violators.
Sheikhul Islām ibn Taymiyyah raḥimahullāh said [Al-Majmū’ 3/252]:
فمتى ظلم المخاطب لم نكن مأمورين أن نجيبه بالتي هي أحسن.
“When the speaker transgresses, we are no longer required to respond to them in a way that is best.” He is referring to the statement of Allāh ﷻ:
{وَلَا تُجَـٰدِلُوۤا۟ أَهۡلَ ٱلۡكِتَـٰبِ إِلَّا بِٱلَّتِی هِیَ أَحۡسَنُ إِلَّا ٱلَّذِینَ ظَلَمُوا۟ مِنۡهُمۡ}
[Sūrah Al-ʿAnkabūt: 46]]